FEELING BIG BLUE: Giants coach Tom Coughlin, saying this week's game against the Chargers is crucial for his team, issued a challenge to Big Blue's key players, including quarterback Eli Manning and linebacker Antonio Pierce both of whom struggled last week at Philadelphia.CSM/Landov

No one needs to hype the importance of Sunday’s game against the Chargers to the Giants because Tom Coughlin already has.

“The message really is that it is a one-game season for us,” the Giants coach announced yesterday.

Coughlin isn’t actually staking the entire season on this game, but he is looking at it as a critical moment for his team. After this, the bye week arrives, making this in effect a one-and-done deal.

“You don’t always like to put too much pressure on one game,” quarterback Eli Manning said, “but I think in this scenario that is kind of what you have to do.”

What Coughlin did this week is throw down a challenge to the players he considers his leaders to snap the Giants out of the funk that produced a three-game losing streak. The coach met last week with his 14-player leadership council and stressed that it’s “part of their job” to rally the troops in times like this. There hasn’t been much rallying as 5-0 regressed to 5-3.

Certainly Coughlin didn’t get what he wanted out of the meeting, because the Giants played their worst complete game last Sunday, a 40-17 beat-down in Philadelphia. As the situation deteriorated, Coughlin didn’t see anyone raising anyone’s spirits.

“Leaders are lifters,” Coughlin said. “Normally what has to happen when a team does fight their way out of a problem, your best players have to show the way. The guys that are in the role of a foot-soldier, they will play and they will work their tails off. But what ultimately shows is when the guys that are recognized as your quality football players, they have to play themselves into a position where they are showing the way.”

Translation: The big-time players have got to start playing like it.

“Coach didn’t need to challenge any of us,” linebacker Antonio Pierce said. “We’re on a three-game losing streak, we’re turning pretty much into the laughingstock as far as how we’re playing on defense.

“It’s about, honestly, our star players, the guys people consider stars need to play like stars. The guys who are solid and contribute, they need to contribute even more. Everybody’s got to do a little bit more right now, obviously what we’re doing is not working. Sometimes for the most part you got to go above the Xs and Os, just play a little harder, do the little extra things, run to the ball more, have energy, show some kind of spirit that you want to really enjoy this game, the passion about the game, because it passes you by really quick and we don’t want to see our season pass us by.”

Playing with passion and fire and smarts is what Coughlin is looking for and Pierce raises his hand when asked if he’s one who needs to do more.

“I’ve probably been the biggest culprit of everything,” Pierce said. “If I’m the guy they call the leader of the defense, the captain of the defense, which I am, I need to do a better job.”

It started yesterday, the first day of on-field preparation for the Chargers, who are 4-3 and riding a two-game winning streak.

“I can’t say it’s a do-or-die, but it’s a situation where the sense of urgency is now,” linebacker Danny Clark said. “We got to win the game on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and I think we’re heading in the right direction. We had a great practice today and we can get better tomorrow.”